


The Kelpie and the Knight

by Annjo_Wolfe



Series: Stories of Whimsy [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Style, Kelpies, Knights - Freeform, Lesbian Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25625077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annjo_Wolfe/pseuds/Annjo_Wolfe
Summary: Many, many years ago, when magic was still running wild and free, there was a brave and strong Knight. She followed her King loyally, for he was kind and just to his people, and he trusted her in turn.One day, the King called his Knight to him. She bowed and asked, “Where shall I go this time my King?”“Stories tell of an evil spirit, wreaking havoc upon a town to the north. You will go and stop it from causing any more harm,” the King answered.The Knight nodded and left the King’s castle, riding for many days and nights...
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Female Character & Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Series: Stories of Whimsy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857460
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	The Kelpie and the Knight

Many, many years ago, when magic was still running wild and free, there was a brave and strong Knight. She followed her King loyally, for he was kind and just to his people, and he trusted her in turn.

One day, the King called his Knight to him. She bowed and asked, “Where shall I go this time my King?”

“Stories tell of an evil spirit, wreaking havoc upon a town to the north. You will go and stop it from causing any more harm,” the King answered.

The Knight nodded and left the King’s castle, riding for many days and nights across the endless moors before she found the town her King spoke of. When she arrived, she was met with a sea of people looking at her in awe and a stout man, the governor of the town, who met her as she dismounted.

“Greetings!” he shouted. The Knight nodded before asking the man what terrible spirit had been terrorising his town. He spoke with woe of a terrible tale, many years ago, when this town was a fierce clan and his great-grandfather the leader. His story told of a water horse, a Kelpie, who’d chased their clan from place to place, eating anyone it could catch without mercy.

“We had thought when we settled here, upon these fair moors, that we had escaped the Kelpie’s wrath. But now it has come back to continue its terror!”

The townsfolk cried in fear, “Please help us fair Knight! We have no one else who can help us!”

The Knight, touched by the care the man had for his people, much like her own King, turned to the crowd and spoke. “I have come to help you in the name of my King and will not rest until I have stopped this Kelpie!”

The townspeople cheered and told her of where the Kelpie lived.

“But beware,” the townsfolk warned, “of a speckled horse and the sound of thunder when there are no clouds. Those are signs that the Kelpie is near.”

Thanking the townspeople for their warnings, the Knight sought the small lake she was told of, where the water was calm and clear. The home of the Kelpie. There she lay in wait, determined to put an end to its reign of terror.

A long time, the Knight waited, keeping her eyes and ears open for any sign of the Kelpie. Just when the sky grew dark, did she hear the faint crackle of thunder. She looked up and there was not a cloud in the sky. Hurriedly, she hid behind a bush and watched as a beautiful speckled mare emerged from the water’s surface. So beautiful was the mare, that it rivalled that of her own horse, a gift given to her by the King himself.

Knowing that this was the Kelpie, she waited for the mare to step away from the safety of her lake, lest she escape. Once she did, the Knight broke from the bush and charged towards the Kelpie. The Kelpie screamed, rearing violently, trying to crush the Knight beneath her hooves. The Knight slashed at her with her sword, not daring to lay a finger on the Kelpie’s coat, knowing she’d get stuck and be dragged into the lake for the Kelpie to feast.

On and on they fought, both furious, skilled and, the Knight concluded, evenly matched. The Knight, tired, stepped back to put some distance between her and the Kelpie. The Kelpie mirrored her, panting, and snorting as her coat glimmered with sweat. Suddenly, there was a flash of light as the Kelpie transformed from a mare to a beautiful woman.

The Knight was struck, the woman had a wild yet strangely elegant nest of brown hair, and freckles all over, the same pattern as her speckled coat. The Kelpie, now a woman, glared at the Knight.

“Strong Knight, what have I done to cause you to attack me so suddenly?”

“Fair Kelpie, you have spent many a year terrorising the town not far from this lake, chasing their clan here and there and even following them to their new home on these quiet moors. So, I have come in the name of my King to stop you.”

“Foolish Knight, I have chased no one here nor there. It is them who’ve dragged me from place to place.”

The Knight, confused, asked, “Brazen Kelpie, what have they done to you to drag you from place to place?”

“Curious Knight,” she answered with sorrow, “the vile great-grandfather of that governor took my bridle many years ago, knowing that bridle is the only thing that could control me. I have followed their clan, hoping to get it back and fighting every time they have tried to use its thrall on me.”

The Knight hummed thoughtfully before asking, “And what of the tales of eating people? Are those lies too?”

The Kelpie looked at the Knight. “No,” she answered, continuing before the Knight could protest, “Just as humans hunt the creatures of the woods, they in turn must be hunted. It has been this way since the beginning.”

“Just Knight, will you continue your quest to kill me?” The Kelpie asked sadly. The Knight sat on the grass and thought. Many hours she spent thinking while the Kelpie sat across from her.

Finally, the Knight answered, “Sweet Kelpie, my King has only ordered I stop you from causing harm. If I were to return your bridle, would you leave the town alone?”

“Beautiful Knight, I would leave this town and never return if only I had my bridle.”

“Then I shall retrieve it for you, Graceful Kelpie, so you may be free.”

For many days and nights, they sat together under the stars and planned. How were they to free the Kelpie from her enslavement? How were they to retrieve her bridle? And for many days the Kelpie and the Knight grew ever closer, for the Kelpie admired the Knight’s kindness and the Knight admired the Kelpie’s courage.

Suddenly struck, the Knight knew what they must do and spoke excitedly to the Kelpie. They agreed to do it the next night.

“Midnight,” the Kelpie said. The Knight nodded, “Midnight.”

The next day came and went, and by sundown the Knight had shed her armour. She quietly kept herself busy, secluded until the time was right.

It was midnight when she heard a bloodcurdling wail. Grabbing her sword, she slunk along the streets, until she reached the dark house of the governor. Jumping through an open window, she glanced back to see the Kelpie galloping through the town, terrorising the people. As long as the Kelpie kept her distance, she wouldn’t be hurt nor cause any hurt, this the Knight knew. Yet her heart yearned for the Kelpie’s safety.

The Knight ran through the house searching for the bridle when she stumbled upon a room of trophies. Lines and lines of trophies hung on the wall or were guarded behind glass. However, the Knight found one glass case had a string rope that glittered like the purest silver. She grabbed her sword and shattered the glass, grabbing the bridle.

She was gone long before the governor and his guards thought to check.

The Knight and the Kelpie met at the lake before dawn came, and the Knight wasted no time handing the Kelpie back her bridle. As she did, the Kelpie looked at her with awe. “You could have taken it. Given it to your King whom you are so loyal to. But you didn’t,” the Kelpie said.

The Knight smiled and embraced the Kelpie, lightly kissing her as she did. She gently took the bridle from the Kelpie and clasped it around her neck, where it lay like a necklace. The Kelpie smiled and kissed the Knight before speaking gently in her ear, “My dearest Knight, I have nothing to offer you, not my life, for I will live one much longer than you, nor my freedom, as I will not part with it again. I have nothing to offer, but my love, and a promise that you will always have it.”

The Knight chuckled and said, “My dearest Kelpie, I need not your life, nor your freedom, nor anything that you don’t wish to give me. All I ask is that I may stay with you for as long as my life lasts. I will accept your love always and I offer mine in return.”

The Knight and the Kelpie smiled at each other then. But the Knight had to leave. She had to retrieve her armour and her horse and return to her King. If only to tell him that from now on she wished to live in the north and to continue her questing closer to home.

“Home?” the King asked when he heard this. The Knight nodded, “Yes, I have found a home for myself in the north upon the moors.”

The King smiled. “Most loyal of Knights, from this day forward I will not ask you to tread far from home unless the time is most dire. You should live and love to your heart’s content.”

The Knight smiled at the King as well, before turning from him, from his castle and rode north once again. To a lake far from any town, where a beautiful mare awaited her return.


End file.
